


Against All Odds

by Wizards_Pupil



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, Illnesses, Mind Control, Mind Games, Monsters, Past Child Abuse, Psychological Torture, Science Fiction, Telekinesis, Telepathy, laboratory testing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2016-10-26
Packaged: 2018-08-22 14:50:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8289749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wizards_Pupil/pseuds/Wizards_Pupil
Summary: Eleven blinked at Hopper and wished that she could speak as fluently as him. Her thoughts were fluent and free flowing and never halted with the pain of trying to figure out how to say what she wanted. There were so many things she didn't understand and so much- what was it Jonathan had said? Slang? Yes, slang. There was so much slang used that she couldn't understand and she hated having to ask. She hated that she always had to stop. 
   "Will. Lucas. Dustin. Mike... In danger. Bad."  Hopper's eyes studied her for a moment longer before he gave a curt nod. "Alrighty then. Let's get 'em."  Eleven never meant to break her promise, but she wasn't the only number in the lab. She has to find Five and disable it before he can find her friends and finish them.Will Byers just wants to return to a normal life but normalcy isn't fearing other worlds and normalcy isn't coughing up slug things in the sinks. People are starting to disappear again and he fears that it's the return of the Demogorgon and this time El won't be there to stop him. But when you can't trust your mind, what can you believe in?





	1. Maniac

**_AGAINST ALL ODDS_ **

* * *

 

**_Chapter 1:  Maniac_ **

_On the ice blue line of insanity is a place most never see._  
_It's a hard won place of mystery, touch it, but can't hold it_  
_You work all your life for that moment in time, it could come or pass you by_  
_It's a push-shove world, but there's always a chance_  
_If the hunger stays alive_

 _There's a cold kinetic heat struggling, stretching for defeat_  
_Never stopping with her head against the wind_

* * *

 

_Goodbye, Mike._

The words echoed around her head distantly. She could not see and she could not breathe as she connected with a hard ground. Concrete? Tile? Dirt? She had no idea. It was too smooth to be carpet or grass and it was cold. It felt as though something immensely heavy was sitting on her chest.

She didn’t think or care much about the cold. She had never known what it was to be warm until she’d been put in a blanket fort.

_Eleven! EL!_

The words came to her as though from a great distance. They were quiet, but had obviously been shouted. She recognized the voice and that alone made her exhale with a horrible cough.

Dust flew from her mouth and off of whatever surface she was laying on. Her eyes, so tired that they burned, sprang open as she continued to cough. Dust was everywhere, on every surface and on every inch of her. She coughed and it fluttered away from her mouth.

No. Not dust. It was skin. It was what was left of the Demogorgon.

She had beaten it.  They had killed it. Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will, Joyce… They were all safe.

Papa was dead and she was in the Upside Down lying in the remains of her enemy.  A sense of urgency pushed against her skin at that thought. She struggled upright though she was uncertain _why_ she felt panic. Something horrible was going to happen and she had to do something before it did. She didn’t yet know what that something was. It was hard to think through her exhausted mind. She pushed herself to her feet and staggered forward a step. Pain shot through her at the simple motion and that did wonders to help her thoughts. Pain was good for clearing the mind. She had to get back to the lab. They would be trying to close the breaches. That one would have to be last. There was very little time to be had.

If it closed while she was over here there would be no getting back.

===+===

His head was pounding, which was nothing new. He was lying on a bed with no blankets or sheets, also not new. There was blood dripping from his nose (still not new) and he was cold.

He was also in the dark, which was very new. They had never turned his light out before. Not for as long as he could remember, and he had an excellent memory. The halls had been noisy over the last week but he could hear nothing now except the ringing of some distant alarm. He could see a steady flash of red under the door which made him think the emergency lights must be on.

He smiled at the sight of the red and sat upon the bed. He rested his hands on his knees and stared at the flashing lights for exactly thirty seconds before adjusting his gaze to the middle of the door. He inhaled sharply through his nose (the scent of blood was everywhere, but he always smelled that) and reached out with his mind on his exhale. It had been too long since he’d exercised this particular muscle and he could feel stiffness in his form as his mind sought out another. He probed at the door with a frown and inhaled again.

_There._

He could feel the steady thrum of thoughts just there. A moment longer of focus and he was in the midst of them. This was a sharp mind. The thoughts fluttered before his eyes quick as lightning, hardly staying long enough to be seen. He closed his eyes to focus on their direction for a moment and turned around. He followed them back to their source and smiled at what he found.

Whoever had set up the back up generator had forgotten about him. They should have made certain his room was on the grid. Because now they were going to regret that they had left him in here to rot.

It was simple to trace the wandering thoughts to the center of the soldier's mind, but he paused when he began to probe it. One word was flashing over and over in this minions head.

 _11_.

It made fury instantly burn in his chest to hear it but he was used to squashing that emotion down when it arose. Instead of focusing on the fury he focused on the thoughts. Another word popped up: ‘Escaped’, and it was quickly followed by a complete thought.

So Eleven had managed to escape through the Upside Down. Pity no one had listened to him when they’d first thought of exploiting that place. They never listened. They locked him up and put the band around his head instead.

 _Unpredictable._  They had said. _Dangerous._

They’d had no idea. Their precious Eleven was the dangerous one. He’d warned them, warned Papa, that she would hurt them. She was nothing to him and yet she was the golden child. The one that could do no wrong.

There was no time for such thoughts. He focused on the soldier once more and found the bright center of his thoughts. He dug his hands into the darkness and smiled as the scream started.

They shouldn’t have forgotten about him.

===+===

Slipping through the gate was simple. Her own weight gave her all the assistance she needed in getting through the barrier. It gave way against her and she found herself spilling onto the floor of the lab in an ungraceful pile of limbs. She remained still for a long moment and let herself listen. She could here an alarm wailing in the hallway but there was no hum of machines that she was used to. The lights were off as well and the emergency back up lights were flashing steadily. The room was empty. Where had everyone gone? Had Hopper and Joyce gotten Will out? There had been a lot of the scientist and soldiers at the school but not all of them. 

It didn't really matter one way or the other. She couldn't stay here. She had to get out of here. She could rest in the woods and then make her way back to the others. To Mike. She was going to live with him and there would be pretty clothes, eggos, a bed, and a Snowball.  It was a struggle to get back on her feet but it wasn't to difficult to stay that way. She could make it outside. 

She made her way through three rooms without any signs of other people. The elevator was out so she opted for the stairs. Thankfully she was heading down. She didn't think she'd be able to climb any steps right now. 

 She entered the main hall to the exit and looked around. There was something wrong with the air in the room and it was making the hairs on her neck stand up. She felt watched. Oppresively so. Her mind went to the Demogorgon and she shuddered. Was there more than one? 

"I see you made it back in one piece, Eleven." The cold, calculated voice shot through her gut like a knife and made her draw in a sharp breath. Her eyes shot to the left where a teenage boy was casually walking towards her with a soldier beside him. The man had a vacant expression and was holding a handgun. So he had control of him then. That didn't bode well for her. The boy was taller than when she had last seen him. His pale hair was longer than her's, and most notably, his restrictive band was gone from his head. He was free to use his powers.

“Five.” The boy grinned at the sound of his name and tilted his head to study her more thoroughly. “Where are others?”

“Still here I imagine.” He spoke easily with a leer that made her blood feel as cold as the Upside Down. He had a way of looking at her that made her feel as though her very life was in danger. He hated her and he made no qualms about it. “We both know we’re the only ones they ever worried about. We’re the only ones that weren’t a disappointment. Though, it appears you’ve lost that title recently. Tell me, Eleven, what have you been doing?”

It burned her that he could speak so easily when it had always been so difficult for her. He flaunted it before her now with that stupid grin and cocked head that so readily mocked her. Even the guard he was controlling was smirking at her.

“Come now, _sister_ , there’s no need to be shy. Speak up. Tell me how papa’s run after you to bring your ungrateful ass back.” He leaned forward slightly and the smile disappeared. It was replaced with the most serious expression she had ever seen on his pale face.”Tell me how you’ve betrayed him again. I want all the details so that I can figure out how badly to hurt you before he gets back.”

She squared her shoulders and gripped her dress in bloody, grimy, fists. Her friends had given her this dress. It made her pretty and she did not need long hair to be so. She had friends. Five did not. She could face him now as she had faced the demogorgon. She had a promise to keep to Mike. It was with cold resolve in her stomach that she met his gaze and answered with one sorrowless word. “Dead.”

Five did not believe her at first. It was obvious by the eyebrow he raised and the way his expression remained patient. He wanted her to tell him the truth and he did not think she had. She mentally braced herself and exhaled slowly. Her shields had never failed her before and they wouldn’t now. She had to keep her promise.

“Are you serious? You _killed_ him?”

She shook her head. “Demogorgon.”

“What?” He snarled the word and the soldier at his side shuddered. She did not want to think of the pain in that man’s head. She did not care if he hurt. He had watched as she was thrown into the dark room time after time. She could not let herself feel sympathy.

“Monster from Upside Down.” That was all the explanation she would offer. She counted her breaths and kept her hands firmly fisted in the dress of her friends. Her energy was wavering and her head felt strange like it did when she was going to pass out. She didn’t have much longer.

“You killed him.” Five shoved the soldier forward as he spoke and the soldier raised his gun. “I’ll - I’ll-” He could not speak in his fury. He simply screamed his rage and the soldier’s gun started firing. El ducked to the side. She took refuge behind a counter that had once held some machine. She exhaled when he screamed again. “TRAITOR!”

“No!” She shouted without meaning to. Her hands fisted at her side in fury at the accusation. Papa had betrayed her. He had hurt her. He was bad. She was good. Joyce, and Mike had called her brave. She was not the traitor.

“I’ll destroy you! Them! Where were you?! Who were those people who came here?!” She felt his mind suddenly without warning trying to probe her’s. She’d kept her shields up  out of practice and found them nearly wavering under the unsought onslaught. She could not allow him access to her thoughts. She would protect her friends.  

He growled ferociously and the gun went off once more. “Fine! I’ll track them down without your aid.”

She shot up from behind the counter with her hand aimed at the door behind Five as he turned on his heel. He grabbed at the handle but she held it shut. Blood was already dripping onto her lip and she could feel it leaking out of her ears. She couldn’t hold for long. She brought her other hand up with the intention of putting Five down.

He shot his own hand to the left and suddenly there was a cry of pain in the hall. A moment later another guard appeared with a large gun aimed at her.

She turned her attention to the guard and the gun and, in that moment of distraction, her hold on the door released. Five took the opportunity she had given him and ducked out the door. The gun fell to the floor disabled and the guard followed it in an unconscious heap. She took a difficult step forward and nearly fell against the wall. She braced a hand against it to hold herself up and gasped for breath. She had to follow him and she had to get out of this place before she lost consciousness. She had to stop him. It was her fault. All of it. Her fault. If he got away from her he would find the others. Hopper, Joyce, Jonathan, Nancy, Will, Lucas, Dustin… Mike.

She struggled forward while ten miles away, Will Byers opened his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2: Nobody Told Me

**Chapter 2: Nobody Told Me**

_ Nobody told me there'd be days like these _ __  
_ Nobody told me there'd be days like these _ __  
_ Strange days indeed _ __  
_ strange days indeed _ _  
_ _ Everybody's runnin' and no one makes a move_

* * *

 

There were dark circles under his eyes. He couldn’t seem to get rid of them. It had been two and a half months but they were still there. He should probably be grateful that was the only outside sign of his trip to that place. His friends had coined it the ‘Upside Down’ but he didn’t really understand why. He knew it had something to do with the girl they’d met but he was a little fuzzy on the why. He hadn’t dug into it too deeply. He didn’t want to learn more about it. He wanted to forget it.

Oh God! 

He bent over the sink and clutched the porcelain tightly enough to make his knuckles white. He could feel the thing squirming up his throat and that alone was enough to make him cough and gag simultaneously. Slime, spittle, and god-knew-what, fell out of his mouth into the sink. Whatever was inside him was still crawling around so he coughed and spewed more of the goo and gunk onto the sink. One more violent hack and he felt the squishy thing ooze past his lips and into the sink. 

He tried his best not to look at the slug creature as he turned the faucet to hot. The thing slid down the drain and he straightened up to look at himself in the mirror. The world flashed around him as the slug went back to where it belong but it was easier to overlook now. He’d be aware of the Upside Down for exactly five seconds before he was back in his own world. 

Will Byers was not healthy, regardless of what the doctors said. The only outward sign might have been the bags under his eyes but he was more concerned about the apparent egg sack in his stomach. He had tried inducing vomit but nothing had come up except his dinner. Then he’d gotten really desperate and ‘accidentally’ taken his mother’s pills. She’d rushed him to the hospital to have his stomach pumped and there had still been no change. He still coughed up one of those things every other day at exactly 7:12pm. He had no idea why. . 

“You okay in there?” Jonathan’s call was nearly as regular as Will’s hacking. He cupped his hands in the warm water and used it to gargle the remaining goo from his mouth before he responded to the inquiry. 

“I’m good. I’ll be out in a minute.” He ran his hand along the sides of the sink to clear the goo off of it before he washed his hands. He didn’t hear any footsteps which meant Jonathan would still be standing there when he exited the bathroom. It was getting harder to fend his curiosity and alarm off. His mother hadn’t caught on yet, but Jonathan and his friends were a bit more suspicious. Lucas especially. Mike and Dustin were concerned but they weren’t too wary yet.

He turned the water off and trudged across the floor to the door. It opened with little effort but the smile he gave his brother took just about all the energy he had. Jonathan was staring down at him through his shaggy bangs with an apprehensive expression. 

“Sure everything’s okay? That sounded rough.” 

He smiled and shrugged it off. “Yeah, just that nagging cough. The doctor said I’d probably keep it for a long time.” He shuffled past his older brother and tried to keep his tone carefree. He couldn’t let Jonathan see his face or his brother would know. It was nearly impossible for Will to keep anything from him. If their gazes met he would read the fear and pain in Will’s eyes and there would be no prayer for normalcy. 

“At least it’s a punctual cough.” Jonathan joked. He gave his brother a nudge with his elbow and followed him to the living room. The Atari 2600 had been set up and was ready to be played with. Jonathan had even put the Star Wars game in it. It was Saturday so there was no need to worry about homework quite yet but Jonathan sat beside him on the couch and worked on a report of a book called ‘Hard Times’ by Charles Dickens. 

He felt like they could tell Charles about ‘Hard Times.’ Charles probably didn’t know that there was another world covered in slime and filled with unspeakable creatures. He probably didn’t know that a frightened girl named Eleven (like the number) had been sent there and opened a gate between their worlds in her terror at what she found. He probably didn’t know that she had then given up her own life to destroy the monster because she wanted to protect her friends.

Charles didn’t know that Will couldn’t sleep at night because the guilt he felt over her was a solid thing in his gut. He didn’t know that Will clutched the walkman his brother had given him in the dark because fear came around him like a blanket in the night and music was the only thing that seemed to make it fade.

Charles knew nothing of Hard Times and Will tried not to hate him for that.

“You hanging out with Mike and the guys tomorrow?” Jonathan asked while he scribbled some note down about the book he was reading. 

“Yeah, we’re finishing up a campaign and then going to the arcade.” He coughed on the tail end of the word as a horribly familiar feeling crept it’s way up his throat. It couldn’t be. He’d never had two attacks in a row. He was hit by another coughing bout before he could get off the couch and flee for the bathroom. Jonathan’s hand settled on his back and started to rub in soothing circles as Will tried to breath around the horrible mess of things filling up his mouth. Another cough saw his mouth bursting open and spewing the goo across the floor. One last hack and the slug fell on his brother’s shoe. Will sat in horrified silence and inhaled sharply as the slug rolled to it’s stomach.

Oh God. Oh  _ God. _ Jonathan would tell and -

“That was a bad fit, you okay?” The slug wiggled it’s way across Jonathan’s shoe and still his brother was rubbing his back like he hadn’t just hacked a slug on him. Jonathan’s tone was concerned but no where near as concerned as it should be considering the fact that a slug had just come out of Will. 

The slug thing was leaving a trail of goo in it’s wake. He exhaled shakily and tried to think of something -anything - he could say. The lights flickered around the room and the horrible stench of the Upside Down filled his nostrils for a second before it faded and he was back on the couch beside his brother. “Will? Need some water?”

Panic closed around his neck like a noose as he realized Jonathan hadn’t seen  _ any  _ of it.

===+===

Mike  _ hated  _ Troy. There was no nice way to put it. That was about the only phrase he could think of to describe the neanderthal that was Troy Wich without actually cursing. 

Currently the bully was standing in front of the door to the bathroom with a smirk on his ugly rat-face. Dustin and Lucas were standing behind Mike and he hoped they were glaring at the mouth-breather as hard he was.

And even thinking that insult made the anger and pain in his chest all the sharper. 

“Move aside, Troy.” He nearly growled the words out which only served to make Troy’s smirk all the larger. Asshole.

“Make me, Wheeler. You’re nothing without your little girlfriend to protect you.” 

“Eat shit.” Lucas spoke with a calm certainty that would have impressed Mike if he hadn’t just been so damn mad. 

“Yeah, Mr. Clarke is heading this way so unless you want this to get awkward, let us through.”  Dustin said. He’d taken the role of peacekeeper very seriously since the incident in November. He’d watched Troy pull a knife and make Mike walk off the edge. He didn’t trust him at all. He’d take on a Demogorgon but not Troy Wich. 

Troy’s eyes flickered towards the east hall and sure enough the dark hair of Mr. Clarke could be seen to be making his way towards the bathroom.  “Fine,” his glared returned to Mike, “but this isn’t over, Wheeler.” He shoved his way past them and stormed off down the hall.

“How’d you even know he was heading this way?” Lucas asked as Mike shoved the door open. Dustin answered cheerfully enough.

“Because Will isn’t usually the one in the bathroom at 11. I’ve never not seen Mr. Clarke in here at that time.”

It was easy to tell where Will was by the tell-tale hacking. It had been four month and he still had a wet, hacking, cough from the Upside Down. It hadn’t gotten any better despite what the doctors kept saying. He was crouched on the floor in front of the toilet with the stall door closed. The soles of his shoes were visible under the door. 

“Will, man, is everything okay?” Dustin was the first to break the silence and shuffle to the door. He tapped it gently to let the still coughing boy know they were there.

“I’m good.” Was the wavering reply. Mike didn’t have to look at the others to know they weren’t buying it. Lying was not Will’s strong suit. He couldn’t even be convincing when there was a stall door between them.

A flush sounded in the stall and they heard a scrape of shoes against the floor as Will stood up again. The latch on the bathroom stall slid to the side and Will walked out slowly with his head down. He looked tired. He always looked tired now. He dragged his feet to the sink and rinsed his hands off quietly. Finally, after too long a stretch of awkward silence, he met their gazes in the mirror. 

“I’m fine, guys, honestly.” He gripped the edges of the sink and tried to offer them a smile that was far closer to a grimace. “Troy is just a jerk. That’s nothing new.”

“He’s still angry that El kicked his ass.” Dustin said with a shrug. “Seriously wish you two could have seen that. It was incredible. She just tilted her head and ‘snap!’” He shook his head fondly and sighed. “I wish I’d had your brother’s camera. I’d plaster that shit all over the school.”

Mike smiled even though there was a dull throb of sadness in his gut. It was a familiar pang of loss that he was getting better at dealing with. Right now he was more concerned with his best friend. One of them anyway. He was smiling softly now with his eyes on Dustin’s broad, squinty-eyed smile in the mirror. They all stood like that for a moment, appreciating the all too rare smile on their friends face.

A plop sounded from the toilet they had just vacated and all the color drained from Will’s face. Lucas and Mike both turned their heads towards the toilet, not thinking anything of it. Will turned as well and trained his gaze on the floor to the right of the toilet. His mouth opened and he sucked in a ragged breath. His hands trembled at his side and he seemed to grow even paler. He exhaled in a wheeze and rushed forward. He lifted his foot up and slammed it down as though he was going to squash something. 

Mike opened his mouth to ask what was going on but clicked it shut when he heard a faint squishing noise.

“Will?” 

“It got out.” His eyes were trained on the spot he had just stomped and he looked as though he was going to be ill. “I’ve never seen one take this long to-” He cut his words off as the lights flickered overhead. 

“Oh shit!” Dustin and Lucas said together. Mike could only gape at Will. There was something black and gooey on his shoe that he  _ knew _ hadn’t been there a moment earlier. 

“Hey, boys,  I trust you all aren’t getting into trouble in here.” Mr. Clarke said with a friendly smile. They all jumped in surprise and gaped at him. As always, Lucas was the first to recover.

“No trouble, Mr. Clarke. Will here was just having a bit of a coughing fit and we were talking about our um, our-”

“Weekend plans.” Dustin offered with a large grin that was obviously fake to Mike but passable with their teacher. 

“Yeah, I’m better now so we were just leaving.” Will attempted a smile but gave it up after a second and opted for walking past Mr. Clarke instead. Mike and the others followed him out.

“What,” Lucas asked as he rounded on Will the minute the door closed, “was that?”

Will looked incredibly guilty and Mike’s stomach twisted with something like dread.


	3. Are We Ourselves?

**Chapter 3: Are We Ourselves?**

* * *

 

_ Lost feelings return _

_ So maybe I can learn _

_ To stop the world of a lie _

_ This time around _

_ Are we, are we, are we ourselves? _

* * *

  
  


**June 12th 1984**

El couldn’t breathe. No matter how much she tried to gulp air down it didn’t seem to ease the intense burning in her chest. She was making a strange wheezing sound with each exhale and stars were bursting all across her vision. Her side was causing her to curl forward in an entirely vain attempt to ease the pain that the stitch was causing. It felt like a knife had been lodged just her rib and was slowly being twisted. But worse than either of those was the throbbing in her head. She hadn’t seen what hit her but she could feel blood dripping down the side of her head. She was used to feeling blood dripping on her face but never from her temple. It hurt worse with each step and was making her vision a little blurry.

Still she ran. She couldn’t let him catch her. Not now. She had to lead him away before he found-

It happened more quickly than she could anticipate. She was dizzy one moment and the next she was throwing up. She sunk to her knees and lost the eggos she had eaten earlier on the sidewalk. She was immediately assaulted by the spoiled scent and pain in her skinned knees. Worse than either of those though was the sound of pounding feet behind her. 

She struggled upright and swayed dangerously before she could balance herself. She very nearly toppled but managed to use the motion to propel herself forward again.

Right into the chest of somebody. She gasped in shock and promptly fell down on her butt. Troy stared at her with wide eyes that were somewhere between surprise and disgust. 

“You! What are you-” he cut himself off and took a step back as Five reached them. The lanky teenager drew up beside El with a grin that was wild with elation. She wheezed painfully and tried to stand up. She couldn’t  _ breathe. _ If she could just get some air she could stop them. 

“Boy, do you know her?” He spoke degradingly. As though Troy was something strange you might find between your toes and not at all worth the attention he was gracing it with.

“Boy? What are you? 12?”

El opened her mouth to tell him to run but she felt a horrible lurch in her stomach and had to twist to the side to be sick once more. 

“Tell me.” Five’s tone was dangerous now and the sound of it sent a horrible shudder up her spine. Troy needed to get out or a broken bone would be the least of his worries. That tone was what had set her running. He couldn’t get in her mind but he was happy to get in others and use them to hurt her. 

“Run,” She managed the word between gulps of breath that sounded more like sobs than anything else. “Run now, Troy.” She did nothing to hide the fear in her voice and that apparently convinced the mouth breather. He took a step back and then another. He turned on his heel and ran for all he was worth. He got exactly ten yards before he stopped cold and screamed. His hands flew to his head and he dropped to his knees. El could only watch as Five took measured steps toward him.

She was going to pass out on this God forsaken bit of concrete and Five was going to learn everything he needed to know to get to the ones she cared about. Troy would tell him about Mike. Dustin, Lucas, Will, Joyce, even Nancy and Jonathan would be at risk. She had been on the run for seven months and managed to avoid giving anything away. He had learned nothing in his pursual of her and this moment was going to cause it all to crash down around her. She would have screamed her rage at the sky if there had been even a moment of air.

Troy was shaking now with tears streaming down his cheeks. His mouth was open in a silent scream of pain as Five raped his mind for the information he wanted. Her vision blurred as she looked at him. She blinked and for a moment she would have sworn it was Mike. She saw tears streaming from his brown eyes and his pale face contorted with terrible pain.

Rage flared in her gut and she was standing. Her hands fisted at her side and she locked her legs in place so she wouldn’t sway. Her gaze fixed on his legs. She couldn’t get to his head anymore than he could get to her mind. She couldn’t kill him like she had killed the soldiers or scientist. She would hinder him instead. A snap of her head saw his femurs snapping. He collapsed instantly with a scream of pain. A  _ loud _ scream of pain.

El took a step forward that saw her blurry vision swimming. She continued without seeing. She would get out of here before anyone else arrived to investigate the screams. She levitated a stick to her hand as she struggled forward and used it on the back of Troy’s head. He slumped to the ground without a sound. Five grit his teeth and glared at her. 

“That won’t stop me.” 

She didn’t need it to. She needed it to delay him. He knew Troy’s face now and would know enough to find him again. When he found them he would find her friends. 

It was time to stop running and get backup.

===+=== 

Jonathan Byers was so tired. He’d worked all night and now found himself doing a pile of dishes that never really seemed to disappear. There was something therapeutic about doing dishes usually. Today it was just grating on his already raw nerves. The only positive was that he could hear Will moving around in the living room humming some song. 

It had been too long since he’d heard his brother hum or sing. It had been too long since his brother had been content enough to sing. Hearing it now was enough to keep him standing.

He stared out the window as he rinsed the dishes and let his mind wander without really thinking about anything. It was methodical. Scrub. Dunk. Scrub. Dunk. Rinse. Set aside to dry later. Repeat. He might have done that until the pile was gone without being fully aware if the lights hadn’t blinked. The bulb overhead blinked out and back on in about two seconds time. Every muscle in Jonathan’s body immediately tensed. If he had been holding a plate he probably would have broke it. He gripped the sink with his empty hands instead. 

Will wasn’t singing any longer and Jonathan didn’t blame him. It took at least a minute for his racing heart to slow down enough that he could loosen his grip on the sink. He grabbed a towel and directed his gaze away from the steadily burning bulb. 

They blinked again.

Jonathan ditched the towel and went to the living room. There was a tight knot of panic in his chest that would not be soothed until he saw his brother. He would not deny himself the assurance that Will was alive. That he wasn’t back in that place.That he hadn’t lost him again. He never denied himself the assurance that Will was safe. He had been brave when Will was in the Upside Down. Whatever that monster had been, that Demgorgon as the kids had named it, it hadn’t been as scary as losing Will. He had sought and fought it with a wild abandon. If he lost it would cost him his brother and nothing was as scary as that. Now it terrified him because now there was something to lose.

His brother was on the  edge of the couch sitting uneasily. His body was tense and his hands were fisted in his jeans. 

“Hey,” he said as casually as he could. He didn’t look at the hallway. If he did he’d imagine it there. He had multiple times. It didn’t matter how many months passed. He’d still see that thing lurking in the shadows. “What have you got planned for today?”

“We, uh,” his eyes flickered to the lamp uncertainly. Jonathan moved to the table and sat on the edge of it. He blocked the lamp light with his body so Will wouldn’t be able to focus on it. “Uh, we were, um, going to be hanging at Mike’s.” He seemed to regain his thoughts and plowed on. “But his mom is making him visit Troy in the hospital.” He made a disgusted face. Jonathan gave a companionable frown. He understood how the boys felt about that. He’d been bullied before. Joyce didn’t make them hang out with their bullies though. Mrs. Wheeler was determined that her kids would get on with the Wichs though. They were very well to do. 

“What happened to him? Break his arm again?”

“No, he got hit in the head and keeps talking about voices. His mom’s worried.” Will shrugged and looked uneasy. “Dustin, Lucas and me are going to wait for Mike to get out and bike back to his place.”

“Need a ride to the hospital?” The smile he received for the simple question was so sincere that his fingers itched for his camera. 

“How about a ride to Dustin’s house instead?” He nodded his head and stood up. He needed to change his shirt -this one was wet from the dishes - and get the keys. 

The lights flickered again. Both their gazes went to the lamp. “You ready to go?”

Will nodded his head. Jonathan grabbed the keys. His shirt would dry.

===+===

She wasn’t quite so dizzy now. The water had helped. She didn’t know why it was spraying in the middle of that yard but it had been what she’d needed. It had allowed her to wipe off her face and get a needed drink.There had also been a row of clothes hanging in the back of the house. She’d grabbed a shirt from it that was long enough to hang to her knees. It replaced the ragged pink dress she had been wearing. She set it aside and nearly choked on a sudden rush of sadness. The pretty dress they had given her was entirely ruined. Caked with mud and blood, ripped in multiple places and missing an entire sleeve. She had ruined it. She had wrecked their gift until there was nothing pretty left.

She buried it in the woods and continued on her way. She would cry for it later. 

She had thought it would be difficult to find the Police Chief but in the end, it was all because of random chance. She walked across the street with her head down and passed a convenience store (not the one she had robbed) She heard a familiar voice and looked up to see Hopper leaving the store. She spotted his police car in the parking lot and made her way to it.

She had to give him credit. He looked surprised for less than five seconds before his expression was steely and unimpressed. She couldn’t have read him if she needed to. He continued towards her until he was standing beside the familiar car with a sandwich in his left hand and a can of soda in the right hand. His hat was on crooked and his collar was a little skewed. His shoes were scuffed and the edge of his pants were frayed from wear.

“Eleven, wasn’t it?” She nodded her head and kept her hands at her side. She wanted to appear calm and fisting the shirt she was wearing would show her unease.

“El.”

“You look rough.” He put his coke on top of his car and set the sandwich beside it. He dusted his hands off on his pants and then stuffed them in his back pocket. It occurred to her suddenly, and a bit shockingly, that he was feeling awkward. At least she wasn’t the only one.

“Eggos?” He nodded his head and the surprise returned to his eyes for a moment.

“Yeah, that was me. Thought you’d need the food. Looks like I should have brought a bit more though…” He didn’t try and hide the fact that he was studying her now. She met the gaze more boldly than she felt. She hadn’t hoped to find him and now that she did she wasn’t certain how to tell him what he needed to know. “Why you here?”

She opened her mouth but had to click it shut again. Her hands tapped her side impatiently and she tried to figure out how to say what she needed. There were so many words and they were so hard to say.

“Don’t have a cow on me, kid. Just spit it out. It’s gotta be something if you’re popping up now. Has the monster come back?”

She blinked at Hopper and wished, not for the last time, that she could speak as fluently as him. Her thoughts were fluent and free flowing and never halted with the pain of trying to figure out how to say what she wanted. There were so many things she didn't understand and so much- what was it Jonathan had said in November? Slang? Yes, slang. There was so much slang used that she couldn't understand and she hated having to ask. She hated that she always had to stop. She hated the restriction.

She hated that everyone thought her slow and incapable of understanding them.

"Will. Lucas. Dustin. Mike," The last one was softer because she could not make that word hard no matter how she tried, "in danger. Bad."

Hopper's pale eyes studied her for a moment longer before he gave a curt nod. "Alrighty then. Let's get 'em."

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first venture into the Stranger Things / Sci-fi fanfiction realm. I've been a fan of sci-fi since I was a toddler and I'm really excited about writing this. I think it's an interesting idea I haven't really seen anyone explore that there were apparently 10 other experimented on children before we got to Eleven so this fic is going to explore that idea. Please let me know about your thoughts/opinions.
> 
> Thanks!


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